rescue brigade

The rescue brigade had to rescue an adult and two children in the North Sea at Egmond aan Zee when they were caught in a rip current on Thursday, RTL Nieuws reports.

The family of four was swimming together when the current suddenly became to strong for them. One adult managed to get out of the water under their own power. The Rescue Brigade helped the other adult and two children. The second adult was taken to hospital in unknown condition, according to the broadcaster.

Monday will be hot in the Netherlands, with maximum temperatures ranging from 28 degrees on the coast to 33 degrees inland. Some places may even see afternoon temperatures climb to 36 degrees. Public health institute RIVM implemented the 'Heat Plan' in a number of provinces, RTL Nieuws reports.

Sunday night was a so-called tropical night, with minimums not falling below 20 degrees. Monday will get hot quickly. Thermometers in the southeast of the country can reach 30 degrees before noon. Monday night is also expected to be a tropical night.

The Dutch Rescue Brigade is extra busy this year with helping swimmers who get into trouble. In the hot period between July 2nd and August 5th, the rescue brigade responded to help swimmers 3,259 times, compared to 3,800 times in the entire summer of 2017. Director Koen Breedveld blames this mainly on decreasing swimming skills, he said to newspaper AD.

With summer-high temperatures expected in the Netherlands today and tomorrow, many Dutch may be tempted into the water. Be very careful when going swimming, the Rescue Brigade warns. The weather may be warm, but the water is still very cold.

A fire on a pleasure boat in the Biesbosch gave around 20 teenagers quite a fright on Monday evening. An alert scouting boat were able to rescue the youngsters, pulling most of them out of the water after they jumped overboard. No one sustained serious injuries, AD reports.

The Amsterdam Rescue Brigade previously called on Amsterdam district Nieuw-West to put a beach guard at Sloterplas, chairman Walter Weg said to the Telegraaf. A 5-year-old girl drowned in the Sloterplas on Sunday.

While the weather services are forecasting hot and sunny weather in the Netherlands this weekend, with temperatures up to 30 degrees, the sea water is still very cold, the Dutch Rescue Brigade warns. Swimmers may face cramps and hypothermia if they're not careful, AD reports.

This warning applies for the North Sea, but also for inland lakes, canals and other bodies of water.

The Rescue Brigade is warning Amsterdam residents to only swim in allocated swimming locations in the city. During the hot weather last week, many people swam in prohibited waters, such as large parts of the Amstel river, and this can be very dangerous, the lifeguards said to AT5.

During the last blast of summer weather this week in the Netherlands, lifeguards had to rescue or help at least 700 people. That number will increase as the week is not over yet and some stations haven't submitted their figures

Three members of the Rescue Brigade were rescued themselves on Wednesday night when their boat capsized off the Zeeland coast. They called the Coast Guard themselves, who sent a helicopter to search for them.

Many a Dutch is preparing to welcome the New Year by diving into ice cold water in the traditional New Year's Dive. And while the sea water is expected to be warmer than in previous years, it is still important to stay safe and be well prepared. The Rescue Brigade released five safety tips to help courageous Dutch survive this daring tradition.

On Wednesday the rescue brigade and coast guard searched the sea in Zandvoort for hours in vain for a swimmer who had disappeared into the water. The search was called of around 11:00 p.m. and relaunched this morning. The Coast Guard believed that the around 20 year old woman has drowned.

After hours of searching on Friday, divers finally discovered the body of 32-year old Adrie Gooijer, who went missing after his motor boat capsized in the waters of De Vlietlanden recreational lake system near Leidschendam on Thursday.